Origin

Classical and medieval philosophers believed that there were four elements that made up everything that existed in the world ( see humour). In addition, they thought that there was a fifth substance hidden in all things, of which the heavenly bodies were composed. This they called the quintessence, from medieval Latin quinta essentia ‘fifth essence’. Later the word came to mean ‘the most typical or perfect example or form of something’, as in Sir Walter Scott's remark in a letter written in 1823, ‘You have escaped the quintessence of bores.’